Do you own a Jeanine Payer necklace? Have you ever seen a Jeanine Payer necklace? If you’ve answered no to both the questions, you are missing something. To be perfectly honest with you, a Jeanine Payer necklace is like no other necklace. I recently gifted one to my wife and she was beside herself with joy. Her first remarks reflected my first thoughts when I saw it at a fashion jewelry
store, “Wow, it’s beautiful! I’ve never seen such a beauty before!”
So what on earth is so special about a Jeanine Payer necklace, you must be wondering. More significantly, who is this Jeanine Payer?
Jeanine Payer is a San Francisco-based jewelry designer who creates emotionally engaging yet subtle hand inscribed jewelry that the whole world loves. Jeanine’s simplicity and originality are evident in her pendants, bracelets and earrings, executed in sterling silver and 18 karat gold, all hand inscribed with poetry in a miniature scale and made to be treasured for years to come. Some of her popular creations bear such pearls of wisdom as “The soul is here for its own joy”; “The journey is the reward”; and “Everything is waiting for you”.
There are few things as intimate as wearing poetry against your skin, as many of her clients can acclaim. Her international following includes Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Mick Jagger and Johnny Depp. Payer has also worked closely to design custom pieces for Meg Ryan, Seal, Sheryl Crow and Debra Missing.
Take the Arianna necklace from her collection. It’s a delicate 18k gold teardrop pendant with satin finishing, accented with a diamond. The engraving, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves” spoken by Sir Edmund Hillary, appears on the front of the gold teardrop just below the diamond. Or, the exceptionally beautiful Allison necklace, featuring a high polish, sterling silver, curvilinear pendant, accented with two 18k gold jump rings and Longfellow’s immortal line, “The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.” Her stunning collection continues with such sterling creations as the Anais, Anaya, Bowie and more.
One of Payer’s first creations was designed as a gift: a tiny book engraved with a beloved poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that only the wearer knew was there. Today, Payer’s designs continue to be graced with the words of both contemporary and ancient voices such as Emily Dickinson, Rumi, Lao Tzu, Jane Hirshfield, and Ovid. “Each person brings their own particular meaning to the jewelry, therefore each piece becomes highly endowed,” says the designer. “These pieces become talismanic as they are chosen to mark emotional and philosophical moments in each person’s life.”
Today Payer and her highly-skilled team of fifteen metalsmiths craft these collections a year in a bustling atelier in the historic Phelan Building – San Francisco’s original jewelry center. The jewelry is on display in her retail store, located just a few floors below the workshop, as well as in over 250 Specialty Stores worldwide including Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Barney New York and Japan.
A Jeanine Payer necklace is simply hypnotic in its beauty. Feast your eyes on some of her beautiful creations at her website.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Designer Jeanine Payer pays tribute to President Obama’s poem
Payer launched her jewelry collection on the 1 April 2009, in recognition of National Poetry Month. The collection is named the Elements of Change featuring moving excerpts from the poem Praise Song for the Day by Elizabeth Alexander.
The collection consist of six pieces, made and hand engraved by master craftsmen in Payer’s San Francisco studio. The delicate hand engraved poetry on silver and gold is a signature look of the collection Payer has made and sold around the world for 20 years. It has been gifted to the first lady Michelle Obama, her daughters and Oprah Winfrey and other select women who are working to progress with President Obama’s message of hope.
"I was so moved by Elizabeth's poem while watching Barack Obama's inauguration that I wrote about it on "Glimpse" our company blog where we tell customers and fans what is happening around the studio," said Payer. Shortly thereafter, a fan messaged back imploring her to collaborate with Alexander and suggesting she incorporate passages from Praise Song for the Day into her designs.
Having been overjoyed by Alexander's poem while watching the inauguration and knowing the significance of the moment, Payer flew into action and reached out to Alexander immediately.
"Jeanine Payer's exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms. Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry's invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine's jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem," Elizabeth Alexander explained with gratitude.
"I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift-a piece with her poem engraved onto it and the dialog turned into collaboration. Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make. It has been a fun and exhilarating project for not only me but for my staff, especially after the challenges my small company has gone through in order to survive in this economic downturn. This project has had an energizing effect for all of us here and this is an exciting collection. I think people will be thrilled," said Payer.
The Elements of Change collection is comprised of three necklaces and three bracelets offered in sterling and 14k gold, all emblematic of Payer's signature style highlighting the diminutive and subtle hand engraved words. Payer selected pieces that would also work for men as well as women.
About Jeanine Payer:
J. Payer has been designing and manufacturing her line of hand engraved sterling and 18k jewelry in San Francisco for 20 years. She currently employs a team of 16 people who work to carefully craft the collection in the old fashioned way: made to order in small quantities. The Jeanine Payer collection can be found in 175 fine specialty stores such as Barneys New York and Twist in Portland Oregon as well as in her own eponymous store in the Union Square area of San Francisco. Jeanine is a pioneer of the genre of 'jewelry with meaning' and has a strong following of loyal collectors around the world.
About Elizabeth Alexander:
E. Alexander is an award winning poet, essayist, playwright and professor of African Studies at Yale University. She has published 7 books and has received numerous prestigious awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, and a Guggenheim fellowship Alexander delivered her poem Praise Song for the Day at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January 2009.
The collection consist of six pieces, made and hand engraved by master craftsmen in Payer’s San Francisco studio. The delicate hand engraved poetry on silver and gold is a signature look of the collection Payer has made and sold around the world for 20 years. It has been gifted to the first lady Michelle Obama, her daughters and Oprah Winfrey and other select women who are working to progress with President Obama’s message of hope.
"I was so moved by Elizabeth's poem while watching Barack Obama's inauguration that I wrote about it on "Glimpse" our company blog where we tell customers and fans what is happening around the studio," said Payer. Shortly thereafter, a fan messaged back imploring her to collaborate with Alexander and suggesting she incorporate passages from Praise Song for the Day into her designs.
Having been overjoyed by Alexander's poem while watching the inauguration and knowing the significance of the moment, Payer flew into action and reached out to Alexander immediately.
"Jeanine Payer's exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms. Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry's invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine's jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem," Elizabeth Alexander explained with gratitude.
"I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift-a piece with her poem engraved onto it and the dialog turned into collaboration. Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make. It has been a fun and exhilarating project for not only me but for my staff, especially after the challenges my small company has gone through in order to survive in this economic downturn. This project has had an energizing effect for all of us here and this is an exciting collection. I think people will be thrilled," said Payer.
The Elements of Change collection is comprised of three necklaces and three bracelets offered in sterling and 14k gold, all emblematic of Payer's signature style highlighting the diminutive and subtle hand engraved words. Payer selected pieces that would also work for men as well as women.
About Jeanine Payer:
J. Payer has been designing and manufacturing her line of hand engraved sterling and 18k jewelry in San Francisco for 20 years. She currently employs a team of 16 people who work to carefully craft the collection in the old fashioned way: made to order in small quantities. The Jeanine Payer collection can be found in 175 fine specialty stores such as Barneys New York and Twist in Portland Oregon as well as in her own eponymous store in the Union Square area of San Francisco. Jeanine is a pioneer of the genre of 'jewelry with meaning' and has a strong following of loyal collectors around the world.
About Elizabeth Alexander:
E. Alexander is an award winning poet, essayist, playwright and professor of African Studies at Yale University. She has published 7 books and has received numerous prestigious awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, and a Guggenheim fellowship Alexander delivered her poem Praise Song for the Day at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January 2009.
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